Power plant executives stay hopeful

Despite strong local opposition, the project manager of a proposed power plant on Oak Hill Way is hopeful that the state will move forward to permit the project.

But, “we still have a very rigorous test in front of us,” Ron Kelly said in a telephone interview from his Boston office Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the state approved the draft environmental impact report for a 350-megawatt, fossil fuel-burning power plant being proposed by Brockton Clean Energy, also known as Brockton Power LLC, according to the company's Web site.

The company's next hurdle is submitting its final environmental impact report for review in January.

If that is approved, a certificate would be issued and the project would be able to seek permits from state agencies.

The plant, proposed for the south side of the city, would be the company's first project in the United States, Kelly said.

Advanced Power AG — the parent company of Brockton Power LLC and Advanced Power Services (NA) LLC, based in Boston — is planning three other plants in Belgium, Germany and Spain, Kelly said.

The company hopes to open the Brockton plant, which would have a 250-foot smokestack, in the Oak Hill Way Industrial Park by 2011.

“We need (the plant) to keep the economy of the state of Massachusetts going,” Kelly said. “This is a great project. It's in a great site, and we're hopeful and confident that the state of Massachusetts will see that.”

But opponents, which now include the city's entire state legislative delegation, the mayor, and most of the City Council, staunchly disagree, citing environmental and heath concerns.

“I'm not worried about the state of Massachusetts. I'm worried about our community, Brockton, and also our neighbors,” said Councilor-at-large Thomas Brophy. “It's not great for Brockton. We do not want this.”

To garner more local control, the City Council unanimously passed a measure on Nov. 13 allowing the council to regulate the sale of city wastewater.

Access to 2 million gallons of treated wastewater per day for cooling at the power plant is a key part of the proposal.

But under the new council measure, buyers must now get a two-thirds vote of approval from the council to purchase wastewater from Brockton.

Most councilors oppose the plant and say they wouldn't approve the sale of wastewater to its developer.

“The City Council is going their way, but they haven't seen the final environmental impact report,” Kelly said.

By mid-January, the company will have answers to “all these environmental concerns that have been raised, as they should have been raised,” Kelly said, referring to a scathing report on possible environmental impacts from the plant. “That's part of the process.”

The report, commissioned by the mayor and released last month, says pollution from the proposed fossil fuel- and natural-gas-burning plant could have a serious effect on air quality and human health in the region.

Kelly said the project would bring a positive impact on regional air quality and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

“I would look at this project as a bootstrap to get us from the early 21st century to the point, sometime down the road in the next couple of decades, where we can actually be self sufficient and not rely on fossil fuel,” Kelly said. “But in this interim period, until the technology is really developed, we need plants like Brockton Clean Energy.”

The state Energy Facilities Siting Board, an agency under the Department of Public Utilities, could make a decision by the spring.

City Council President Dennis Eaniri said city officials and residents will likely do whatever it takes to stop the project.

“Whatever the state is going to say back to us, I'm sure we're going to rally and do our utmost to say that we do not want it here,” Eaniri said.

Maria Papadopoulos can be reached at mpapadopoulos@enterprisenews.com.